Dear Grandchildren,
Usually, slippers don’t rate much in the world of news. But mine do. At least, they seem to rate right up there with a lot of worthless sports and, especially, political news. I bought the slippers late in October to keep my feet off the cold stone floors of our apartment. As you will recall, I had experimented with two pairs of socks to keep my feet warm, to no avail. So I purchased a pair of lined slippers. So far, they have worked pretty well, except when they don’t. Yes, my feet are off the cold floors (the radiant heating from the floor only reaches a certain point in our apartment, keeping our bedroom and foyer warm, with little else heated). But the slippers seem to be other-handed. That is to say, the left slipper seems to be right handed, with the heel pushing outward to the left as if pushed by my right hand, and the right slipper seems to be left handed, with the heel pushing outward to the right. Does that make sense? In effect, my heels are always resting on the floor and the back part of the slippers act independent of my foot needs. What is more, because of the inner lining, I can’t get them off when I want them off and they will fall off when I want them on. Figure that one out. So I find myself paying a lot of attention to my walking inside the apartment. For example, I now consciously walk pigeon-toed so that the heels of the slippers stay under the heels of my feet, and I have to keep pushing my toes into the ends of the slippers. And so on and so forth. Now don’t you agree that that was interesting news? And I included no ads which the evening news does without your permission.
For the second time, we hosted a member of the quorums of the Seventy. It was a nice outing in Ephesus with him and his wife. The weather was sunny and cool. We knew them from our most recent stint in Jerusalem (2009–10). This time, we enjoyed the MP and his wife as well. We went through the site with the audio tour. It is my preferred way to visit. In the evening, members of the branch came to a very nice meeting with the four guests. The Seventy member paid special attention to those who are here long term because it is they who will carry forward the future program of the Church in this area.
Today was to be the big day for finally including persons in our sacrament service who live at a distance—by Skype of course. I first mentioned this possibility last August in a communiqué to branch members. (There must be a message in this kind of delay, but I don’t know what.) We had run a Skype test with church members in a town south of here. A little after 8 a.m. this morning, I received a call from one of the sisters. She said the municipal authorities had turned off the electricity all over the city for the day. Hence, she and the others would not be able to hook into the internet for our sacrament service. I could hear the frustration in her voice. So I suggested that I call her when we were ready to undertake the sacramental portion of the service. At that point, we would use my cell phone as a microphone so that they could hear the words of the prayers and thereafter partake of the sacramental emblems. We did so with success. She later reported that they had heard the prayers and partaken of the sacrament. They followed that with a general conference talk in her home—in Turkish or German translation, I don’t know which. Next week, I hope, we shall attempt again to reach them by Skype. We shall then put my laptop on a podium as a camera to see the whole service and my iPhone at another podium to serve as a microphone. With the laptop, by the end of the month, I am thinking that we can add a number of others to the group who sees and hears the service. To achieve that will make a dream come true for me.
Today I was surprised when four investigators showed up. (I don’t count a seven-month old baby.) The YVs had met and taught one of the fellows, a lawyer who found a website and indicated an interest in learning about the Church. (He says that he likes to learn about different religions.) The YVs held a session with him in our apartment almost a week ago. And he had a lot of good questions from reading the first chapters of the Book of Mormon. The other three were a father, mother, and 16-year-old son who had met a couple in Sidney, Australia, from Moses Lake, Washington, who were serving a mission there. The couple knew the second counselor in our branch presidency from the days when the senior fellow was in the Moses Lake stake presidency. When the referral came, the YVs hopped on it. They have yet to meet with the family, but their phone calls brought them to us in time for our Sunday School lesson on repentance. I keep hoping that some of this activity will bear fruit.
We did a little Christmas shopping yesterday at a large store far, far away on the Metro (did you catch the ringing endorsement of the next Star Wars movie?). It was worth the trip. Because we are planning a branch activity in our apartment Christmas night, it was important that we begin to acquire items that will make the evening sparkle a little and will help in the food-serving part. The most noticeable acquisition are six small Christmas stockings. We bought two for us, two for the YVs, and two for the YSA brother and sister who are going to school here. With those perched in plain view on a desk in the living room, and with the small, one-meter tall tree now set up, it is beginning to look a bit like Christmas. Outside, we see Christmas décor in shops and apartment windows. But those decorations, we are told, are for New Years. Christmas is treated as a touch of Christian propaganda around here. And that's ok. But around our apartment, those items are designed for Christmas. And that's the truth.
I love you and pray for each of you.
Grandpa Brown
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